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Flag Day is celebrated on June 14 each year to honor the United States flag and to commemorate the flag’s adoption.

On the same day, the US Army celebrates its birthday.

Flag Day falls within National Flag Week, a time when Americans reflect on the foundations of the nation’s freedom. The flag of the United States represents freedom and has been an enduring symbol of the country’s ideals since its early days. During both events, Americans also remember their loyalty to the nation, reaffirm their belief in liberty and justice, and observe the nation’s unity.

Many people in the US honor this day by displaying the American flag at homes and public buildings. Other popular ways of observing this holiday include: flag-raising ceremonies; Flag Day services; school quizzes and essay competitions about the American flag; musical salutes; street parades; and awards for special recognition.

Flag Day is celebrated on June 14 each year to honor the United States flag and to commemorate the flag’s adoption

Flag Day is celebrated on June 14 each year to honor the United States flag and to commemorate the flag’s adoption

Organizations such as The National Flag Day Foundation are actively involved in coordinating activities centered on the event and keeping the flag’s traditions alive. Following Flag Day is Honor America Days, a 21-day period through to Independence Day (July 4) to honor America. During this period, people hold public gatherings and activities to celebrate and honor the nation.

Although Flag Day is a nationwide observance, it is not a public holiday in many parts of the US. It is a legal holiday in a few areas in the USA, such as Montour County in Pennsylvania.

On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress replaced the British symbols of the Grand Union flag with a new design featuring 13 white stars in a circle on a field of blue and 13 red and white stripes – one for each state. Although it is not certain, this flag may have been made by the Philadelphia seamstress Betsy Ross, who was an official flag maker for the Pennsylvania Navy. The number of stars increased as the new states entered the Union, but the number of stripes stopped at 15 and was later returned to 13.

In June 1886, Bernard Cigrand made his first public proposal for the annual observance of the birth of the flag when he wrote an article titled The Fourteenth of June in the old Chicago Argus newspaper. Bernard Cigrand’s effort to ensure national observance of Flag Day finally came when President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation calling for a nationwide observance of the event on June 14, 1916. However, Flag Day did not become official until August 1949, when President Harry Truman signed the legislation and proclaimed June 14 as Flag Day.

In 1966, Congress also requested that the President issue annually a proclamation designating the week in which June 14 occurs as National Flag Week.

The President is requested to issue each year a proclamation to: call on government officials in the USA to display the flag of the United States on all government buildings on Flag Day; and to urge US residents to observe Flag Day as the anniversary of the adoption on June 14, 1777, by the Continental Congress of the Stars and Stripes as the official flag of the US.

The American flag, also nicknamed as “Old Glory” or “star-spangled banner”, has changed designs over the centuries. It consists of 13 equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton bearing 50 small, white, five-pointed stars. Each of the 50 stars represents one of the 50 states in the United States and the 13 stripes represent the original 13 colonies that became the first states in the Union.

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Protests against anti-Islam film Innocence of Muslims made in the US are spreading across the Middle East and North Africa.

In Yemen, demonstrators briefly stormed the grounds of the US embassy in Sanaa and burnt the US flag, but were driven back by security forces.

In Egypt, 224 people were injured in protests, the health ministry said. Protests were also reported in Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia.

On Tuesday, US Ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, was killed in Benghazi.

US officials say they are investigating whether the attack in Libya was planned, citing suspicions that a militant jihadist group may have co-ordinated the violence.

 

In Yemen, demonstrators briefly stormed the grounds of the US embassy in Sanaa and burnt the US flag

In Yemen, demonstrators briefly stormed the grounds of the US embassy in Sanaa and burnt the US flag

Libya’s new Prime Minister Mustafa Abu Shagur told the AFP news agency there had been a “big advance” in the investigation in Benghazi.

“Arrests have been made and more are under way as we speak,” he said but gave no details.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned the film which gave rise to the protests as “disgusting” and “reprehensible”.

The US utterly rejected its contents and its message, she said, but the film was no excuse for violence.

Police in Sanaa shot in the air, but failed to prevent crowds from gaining access to the embassy compound and setting fire to vehicles.

Security force reinforcements used tear gas, water cannon and live fire to drive protesters back.

There were reports of injuries on both sides, although the Reuters news agency carried a statement from the embassy saying there were none.

Windows were smashed. A US flag was torn down and replaced with a black flag bearing the Muslim statement of faith, “There is no God but Allah”.

It was not immediately clear whether the embassy was occupied. There are reports that embassy staff has been moved to a safer location.

In Egypt, protests erupted for a third day outside the US embassy in Cairo, with some demonstrators demanding the expulsion of the ambassador.

Police fired tear gas at crowds throwing stones.

Islamist groups and others have called for a “million-man march” in Cairo on Friday.

The Muslim Brotherhood, the Salafist al-Nour party and non-religious groups including the “Ultra” fans of Zamalek football club have invited Muslims, Coptic Christians and all Egyptian citizens to join them.

Egypt’s President Mohammed Mursi appealed for calm, saying Egyptians “reject any kind of assault or insult” against the Prophet Muhammad.

“I condemn and oppose all who… insult our prophet. [But] it is our duty to protect our guests and visitors from abroad,” he said in a statement broadcast by state media.

“I call on everyone to take that into consideration, to not violate Egyptian law… to not assault embassies.”

US officials have described the Benghazi attack as complex and professional, and suggested the attackers may have used the film protest as a pretext for the attack.

Reuters quoted officials as saying there were suspicions that a militia known as the Ansar al-Sharia brigade was responsible, although the group has denied the claim.

The officials said there were also reports that al-Qaeda’s North Africa-based affiliate, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, may have been involved, the news agency reports.

The obscure film which has sparked anger was shot in the US and posted online earlier this year. Clips have since been shown on Arab TV stations.

It depicts the Prophet Muhammad as a womanizer and the bloodthirsty leader of a ragtag group of men who enjoy killing.

The exact origin of the movie and the internet clip, and the motivation behind its production, remains a mystery.

The most offensive comments regarding Muhammad appear to have been dubbed on later, says our correspondent.

Some of the actors involved have since condemned the film, and said they had no idea it was to be used as anti-Islam propaganda.

In other developments:

• Libya’s PM Mustafa Abu Shagur says there is “no justification” for the Benghazi attack and investigations are under way to find the “criminals” responsible

• Russia says it fears “chaos” in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia condemns both the film and the violence

• Iranians chanting anti-US and anti-Israel slogans stage a protest outside the Swiss embassy in the Iranian capital, Tehran, which represents US interests

• Afghan President Hamid Karzai has postponed a planned visit to Norway, fearing violence could erupt in his country

• There were small protests in Bangladesh and Iraq, in addition to Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia

• Security has been increased at US embassies and consulates around the world; US officials say a marine anti-terrorism team is being deployed to Libya and two destroyers to the Libyan coast as a precautionary measure

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